Gale Set for England Debut

Castleford scrum-half Luke Gale appears to be in line to make his England debut against France on Saturday.

The 28-year-old was one of five members of the squad for last year's series with New Zealand not to feature during the three Tests but his form in 2016 has again been excellent and he has been retained in the squad for the Four Nations.

England take on France next weekend in Avignon in a one-off fixture in preparation for the upcoming tournament which sees them take on the Kiwis, Australia and Scotland.

Coach Wayne Bennett has suggested he will use the trip across the Channel to give players who have not played competitively over the last few months a chance to get some minutes in their legs.

That would indicate that Gale will start and Bennett says the fixture is the perfect chance to give those not involved in the Super League and NRL play-offs a chance to get back on the field.

"In terms of Avignon, I need to get players playing that haven't played for five or six weeks," Bennett said. "I don't want to throw them into the game against New Zealand cold.

"My priority is to get those guys a game and I can give the guys who have played more recently a week off. There's no need to force people to play."